It’s bread, but not as you know it. Once a mere accompaniment to a complete breakfast, toast now plays a starring role at restaurants around the country. A trend that started on the West Coast, toast became a major menu offering at places like The Mill on San Francisco’s Divisadero Street. The Mill serves up hearty slices of Josey Baker’s Country Bread topped with pumpkin butter, maple syrup, or sea salt at up to $4 a slice. At Sqirl in Los Angeles, brioche toast is lathered with chocolate ganache and nut butter, or with artisanal jams, starting at $4.50.

The Peacock's pumpkin on toast with

English cheddar is served with

brown butter, toasted pecans,

pumpkin seeds, and spring onions.

It didn’t take long for toast to move east and onto dinner menus. Philadelphia’s Vernick offers at least seven toast dishes at any given time, with toppings ranging from peas and bacon to Maryland crab to fried green tomatoes ($8 to $15). And The Peacock, a new British restaurant in New York City, pairs toast with treats like house-made ricotta and steak tartare ($11 and $16) on its very own toast menu—a move that must surely sound the death knell of the low-carb diet. Bread, it seems, is back.